iKhaya le Themba: A Place to Grow, Learn and Be Yourself

I am Ecesu Bozkurt, and as a sociology student (and aspiring journalist), I spend my years in England between lectures and study groups. Coming to Cape Town for a journalism internship, I wasn’t sure what to expect. At iKhaya, I had the chance to interview students, teachers, staff, and volunteers — and I was inspired by their stories.

The Imizamo Yethu (Xhosa for "Our Collective Efforts") township is located in the Hout Bay Area of Cape Town, known for its many restaurants, theatres, and beautiful shoreline. The township, in contrast, is condensed into 18 hectares and is overpopulated with many new informal settlers arriving each week. It is its own village of a small number of brick houses built around 2004, and many shacks surrounding it. Townships in South Africa were particularly established during Apartheid era when citizens were forced by law to separate into different living quarters due to land allocations based on racial classifications. Due to its proximity to once ‘only white’ Hout Bay, Imizamo Yethu residents had to fight with the government to be allowed to stay where they resided. After 1994 and the democratic elections, the government promised to build brick houses to replace the metal shacks, but the promise was never fulfilled. The township houses hundreds of people and has its own local economy consisting of taxis, barber shops, grocery shops, nail salons, auto repairs, and many more local establishments. It is vibrant and full of people who know pretty much everyone living in Imizamo Yethu, and many children out on the streets in colourful clothes. The businesses could provide everything one can possibly need, whether it is fresh scones or shoe repairs. It even has its own soup kitchen run by the lovely lady Miriam. The governmental infrastructure is clearly failing the residents with uncertain Internet access, run down buildings, regular fires, and a lacking number of toilets. The streets are littered in trash that government staff is trying to collect, but are clearly unable to catch up with. Most of the youth is facing the unemployment crisis, as the long queues that lead to no jobs attest to. Many children thus come back to either empty houses, or houses without enough food for all residents. The lack of after school care is the reason for IKhaya’s establishment — it provides students from grades 1-6 with a safe environment where they can receive help for their homework, receive additional lessons from teachers to supplement the subpar educational system, and get a home-cooked meal. Most importantly, the children are allowed to be the wonderful children they are, and learn to be creative independent-thinkers. The staff of iKhaya explain their foundation as an answer to a fundamental need in townships — keeping children safe, educated, and well-fed.

iKhaya in 2023 consists of a beautiful garden where the children play a multitude of sports, a homework lab attended by a teacher and many international and domestic volunteers, and many classrooms in different colours, decorated with African art and educational posters. The homework lab hosts stacks of games, puzzles, and books the kids can play with, and has five big tables with many chairs where the children pick out volunteers and receive assistance with their homework. There is an office where the director, volunteers, and the teachers coordinate management, and a computer lab to assist the children if they need Internet access. Below there is the Imizamo Yethu township, and above, the gorgeous view of the mountains. Volunteering for IKhaya is a special experience as everyone walks around with a smile and feels like they are outside of time and history. I myself have played Twister, basketball and legos — and read Cinderella to a mix of wonderful children. With 120 lovely children surrounding us and giving us the pleasure of spending time with them, it is a joyous affair every day.

I had the pleasure of getting to know Khonaye, a former student of Ikhaya. As an intern myself, I learned much from her experience and her articulation of the life in the Imizamo Yethu township, and want to share with others. Khonaye came back to Ikhaya in July 2023 as a volunteer during her gap year before starting her law studies. She explains her choosing a career in law as a result of the racism and sexism she had to live through, and adds that she wants to stand up and be the voice of others. South African still struggles with gender-based violence, and the rate of crimes against women is especially high. As due to its complicated past, the issues of wealth inequality is interlocked with systems of privileged based on the colour line — Khonaye therefore describes herself as a member of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged group of black women. She jokingly admits that her friends encourage her to become a lawyer as it would best suit her personality and passion for justice. Even after limited time, I can personally attest to her compassion for South African people, amazing articulation and analysis of the history and the current issues of the country, and inspiring perseverance.

Her story of coming to IKhaya starts with her brother who had been a student when IKhaya was recently founded — with only one container and a handful of staff. She explains she was the youngest child there, so everyone treated her like a baby. She followed her brother everywhere, and as there wasn’t anyone at home, she would play around the garden and receive homework support at IKhaya. She remembers her days fondly, and details how happy everyone was at IKhaya even when the space was so small that they could hardly accommodate her. She reminisces of the different camps they went to, especially froggy camp, where they sat around and told stories, and felt like one big family. There were groups competitions and food, and a happy atmosphere that brought all the campers together with Xhosa tales in the background. She admits that everyone at IKhaya would tell their school friends and neighbours to come since it was a special place where there was the opportunity to play and plenty of food to eat. Today, there are 200 students on the waitlist hoping to be a part of the IKhaya family, but due to financial constraints, the organisation isn’t able to admit them. The teachers describe the children who look from the gate as a sad reminder that there needs to be more places like IKhaya, and as a reflection of the great reputation the organisation managed to gather within the township. It is their hope that IKhaya can grow even further and welcome more children and even branch out to other townships.

Khonaye tells of IKhaya as a place that helped the children of Imizamo Yethu make friends and get to know each other. She still regularly bumps into people she met here. To her, this place “should be everywhere in a sense, in every township” to give people a chance to spend their free time effectively and to discourage them from the other alternatives at the township, where drug use is unfortunately high due to the lack of adult supervision and unemployment. For Khonaye, coming to Ikhaya gave her two mothers and two fathers, as she sees her teachers as a second family. She admits that she still likes to look up at IKhaya and remembers of being a child and enjoying her childhood. There isn’t much space to be children in a township, she says, so children really need a safe home where they can just exist. She describes the organisation as the family that made her who she is today:

“The support is immaculate. I remember when there was times where there was no electricity or there was no sugar at home. IKhaya used to provide us with some of those stuff. It was like a mother you never had, like mother from another mother. They would be there for you emotionally in every aspect of your life. When I was doing bad in school, they'd say they believed in me, and be a motivation for me in every sense.”

Even when IKhaya was just starting out, there were volunteers from all over the world ready to help with homework and play with the children. Khonaye explains that she treasured that opportunity to build relationships and connections so she could tell first-hand how life was in South Africa. She adds that she would sit with volunteers as she was doing her homework, and would be asked to tell about herself, and she would talk about living with her grandma and about her school. That’s how we spread the Ikhaya name, she tells, as she felt comfortable with everyone in a peaceful environment. They would bring donations too, like blankets and hoodies which would cost a fortune for Imizamo Yethu residents. When talking about life after IKhaya, Khonaye answers that the day she graduated from IKhaya is the saddest memory she has of the place. Leaving at sixth grade, she adds, she was lost and she still felt like she needed IKhaya. Going through puberty and new emotions, without the support and the schedule she was accustomed to, she wishes there was more space to accommodate children for longer. Whilst children still have to say farewell after sixth grade, IKhaya is trying to expand their afternoon care until further, but needs more funding to achieve that goal.

When I ask her what she felt like I needed to learn about her experience, Khonaye tells me that I should learn to challenge the stereotypes and the negative perspective of townships. She warns that they are harming to residents like her when there is so much more to townships than the subpar living situations.

“When you don’t have electricity or don’t have shoes to go to school the next day, what are you going to do? It’s been tough, sure. It demotivates you because you think to yourself: Why am I even doing this? I’ll end up like my parents anyway. Sometimes on the news, those sorts of stories are the only ones, but this is not the entire picture of how we live. The government isn’t doing anything about it, even though we’ve been promised better land, better water, and better electricity.

Yes, it can be unsafe, but this is our home. You can't say this is a township or give us names. Crime is high, yes, but crime is everywhere. This is our home. We grew up here. Just because there is crime doesn't mean lawyers or doctors can't come out of this place. This place doesn't define us as much as people think it does. Seeing these sorts of stereotypes on TV that say because you live in a township you can't get anywhere makes some people actually believe they can't do anything with their lives. If we actually had people come here and see the place, they wouldn't judge us based on a cover. They would see how safe it is when we are around, how soft it is, and how everybody knows each other. We look out for one another at Imizamo Yethu.”

Whilst there are challenges, there are many NGOs like IKhaya who have been making significant change, and some of them also supply educational funds for students. There is always need for more clothes, more stationary, more buildings, more funds for teachers’ salaries and the staff’s, more recognition and more change — and IKhaya aims to deliver to the best of its abilities. It raises brave and clever young adults like Khonaye and many other graduates who have gone to find opportunities to study, and many present children who have made friends and learned to socialise safely and happily. As Miss Nicolette, our volunteering coordinator, said when I started working at Ikhaya, “it is hard to measure joy, but we can see it every day — as well as the confidence and the love”.

iKhaya Le Themba supports 120 children from over 100 local families. Their after school educare model ensures that care givers are able to go to work worry free, whilst children have a rich, fulfilling childhood filled with fun, love, support and FOOD!

It costs just R1000 (£50) a month to sponsor a child and secure their place at iKhaya. This covers school transport, sports, toys, stationary, education, emotional support, a hot meal and food to take home daily. Without you, we can’t offer experiences like Khonaye’s, which lead to gap years and degrees in law. Please consider partnering with a child up to Grade 6.